I, Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands
by Claywind
Summary: Our favourite prissy, icy inu-taiyoukai is confronted to an old acquaintance who might take him to reconsider his views about humans and his father's degradation
1. Dogs and Wolves

**Summary:** Our favourite prissy, icy inu-taiyoukai is confronted to an old acquaintance who might take him to reconsider his views about humans and his father's degradation

**Title:** I, Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands  
**Genre:** Action/Romance  
**Disclaimer:** InuYasha characters, universe and story belong to Rumiko Takahashi and we're all grateful that she created them, because otherwise, we couldn't have so much fun borrowing them.  
Arashirai, Haku and Kanako are my original creations. Please, don't steal them. If you want to use them in a fic, I would like you to ask me first. Or I'll send you hell. Thanks.  
**Rating:** T, for violence and minor adult themes  
**Warnings:** Some blood and severe injuries.

I have positively no idea of _what_ exactly _is_ Ah-Uh, so he'll be a celestial dragon-horse and, if you happen to know the proper denomination for the ... thing, just let me know.

_hakama_ is a type of wide pants worn mainly by men in the feudal era

_yukata_ is a kind of summer kimono that is traditionally made out of cotton and worn by farmers and common people in the feudal era.

**Chapter 1. Dogs and Wolves**

"Lord Sesshomaru! You have returned my great lord!"

An impressively short green toad-imp, perched on the croup of a two-headed celestial dragon-horse, was thoroughly expressing his gloat over what seemed to be a white dot at the very edge of his range of sight. His creaking voice carried very far across the meadows and, even though he was only a tiny outline in the distance, the lord in question still winced as the sound pierced his ears like the grinding of sharp claws over metal.

Jaken's voice was one of the main reasons he sometimes needed to part ways with his followers. He had often considered gutting the toad-imp when his constant blathering would become too much of a pestering nuisance ... but killing such a faithful, yet insufferable, creature for the soul motive of annoyance sounded somehow dishonourable, and he, Sesshomaru, granted great importance to honour.

He had also thought of simply leaving and never returning, but that would always put him under the impression that he was somehow backing away ... and the only word he could use to describe that kind of behaviour was _cowardice_. The last person to have pronounced that word in front of him – a foolish human war general – had ended up his pathetic life in very tiny pieces of flesh. A look of slight contentment briefly passed on his features at the recollection.

A cheerful giggle greeted his closer approach and its source ran quite clumsily between the scaled legs of a celestial dragon-horse who had had the time to get used to the little girl's erratic shifting and held perfectly still, which prevented her from being crushed. The dark haired child stopped her dishevelled race when she was four feet away from the tall slender dog-demon and welcomed him by pointing out the daisy chains with which she had adorned her hair, Ah-Un's mane and even Jacken's staff when he hadn't been looking. The two heads seemed strangely satisfied with their little floral crowns. The cold, ruthless, deadly taiyoukai indulged the corner of his lips to twitch at the sight of his protégé's excesses.

Rin's smile was the reason he kept coming back.

"Let us be going" he commanded softly and departed to lead the way, followed in his trail by a merry little girl, a grumbling toad-imp and a jaded dragon-horse.

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Hidden in the shade of the trees, a hooded figure let slip a snicker and murmured:

"Well, Sesshomaru. Since you refused to consider my offer, allow me to show you my gratitude."

As the baboon pelt fell over, it revealed a slender white haired demon, wearing white silk clothes underneath a dark grey armour and a clear cream fluffy fur draped over his right shoulder.

"No one denies a deal with Naraku" the demon said.

Yellow eyes gleamed with balefulness.

"Let us play a little..."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Not really far from all of this, a young teenage girl, wearing dark blue _hakama_ and an old and scruffy-looking _yukata_ whose sleeves had been torn apart, was agitating a staff under the nose of a gigantic white wolf demon that didn't seem very impressed by the performance, if judging by his relaxed stance. The creature, which easily exceeded the size of a war horse at his withers, and was almost twice as long, if taking the tail into account, yawned widely, baring impressive fangs, and curled up back to sleep with a snort of contentment, its snow-white fur almost gleaming under the sunlight.

The girl kept swinging and slashing with her dark wooden staff under the strict and vigilant eye of the other demon in the area. A tall, black haired, pale skinned, red eyed okami-taiyoukai with wolf ears pointing out of her thick dark mane was glaring at the youth's attempts at wielding her weapon correctly. The demoness would sometimes growl a short order or a strict comment:

"Your wrists. More supple."

"You're out of balance."

"Widen the move."

"Lower your stance."

"What did I say about your wrists?"

To which the brown haired girl simply nodded and tried to fulfil her instructor's expectations. When it became obvious that the human was simply too exhausted to swing her staff correctly, the gigantic white wolf cracked an eye open and exhaled a deep growl:

"Sister, Kana is not as resistant as we are. Please, allow her to rest."

"Very well. Kanako, end of practice."

The youth sighed with apparent relief and leaned on her staff with a smirk.

"I am becoming quite good at that, am I not, Arashirai-san?"

The tall wolf demoness studied her student with a critical eye:

"You made progresses. But your wrists are too tensed. The way of the _bojutsu_ is not about strength but flexibility and speed. Yet you keep forgetting it."

"I'm sorry."

"Apologies are not the appropriate answer. I value actions, not words."

The teen was about to make a disagreeable comment about how the wolf demoness would sometimes discourse over the different martial ways, but she finally decided to cautiously keep her mouth shut. Instead, she bowed deeply to her teacher:

"I'll remember your advices. Thank you for your help."

The taiyoukai was about to answer, when she suddenly froze dead and turned her head to face the wind, that had been blowing from the north since the morning. Her nose twitched and the white wolf stood up and looked around them, his ears moving nervously back and forth.

"Sister?" he growled.

"I smell something."

"Danger?" he posted himself between the scent carried by the breeze and the human youth.

The wolf demoness did not get the time to answer.

A silver white blur emerged from the bushes on the other side of the clearing. In the time necessary for an acorn to fall from an oak, the apparition had rushed at them, his claws glowing acid green, in a swift swipe of his fingers, a pale yellow glowing whip slashed through the air, and he vanished between the trees, a raging mad okami-taiyoukai on his heels.

Half bisected by the energy whip, the human girl looked down with complete astonishment at the huge crimson stripe now grimly ornamenting her _yukata_. She winced at the surge of pain that suddenly took over her senses and collapsed on the ground.

The white wolf dashed to her side and anxiously nuzzled the bloodied body.

Kanako half-opened an already almost blank eye and managed to breathe out a desperate whisper:

"Haku... help..."

Her eye closed and the wolf began to lick the wound, but the loosened clothing rendered the task uneasy. Despondent, he couldn't repress the anguished howl he let loose.

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A long sharp howl resonated in the not-so-far vicinity and Rin snapped her eyes shut at the distressed cry that brought back vivid memories she didn't want think about anymore.

_Fear, run, pants, howls, fall, growls, fear, pain, fear. And dark. _

Oblivious to the little girl's terrified state, Jacken rushed to his lord's feet and asked very cautiously:

"My lord, what was that?"

"A wolf."

Disgust was clearly audible in the taiyoukai's voice and Jacken moved a little bit backwards, unwilling to risk a knock from the somewhat volatile demon lord. But before the toad-imp had the time to really worry about being stepped on, Sesshomaru granted a quick look at Rin and began heading promptly towards the direction the howl had abruptly ended. A stench of youki in the area swamped his nostrils. He almost instantly turned back to his followers, just in time to see the jaws of a gigantic white wolf demon close upon Rin, lift her and flee away. The scent of her blood reached him and the inu-taiyoukai briefly wondered how the wolf had been able to come so close unnoticed when he wasn't even downwind.

He, Sesshomaru, hadn't sensed his approach.

Puzzled, it took him a whole second to throw himself after the insanely fast creature.

Jacken hadn't even had the time to react.

But he did react when an ivory blade, as sharp as a razor, lightly pressed against his neck. A sudden calm overwhelmed him and he turned slowly to look at the very angry and very red irises glaring at him.

"Where is he?"

"Who?" Jacken replied slowly, trying to hide his dread, looking discretely in the direction his lord had flown and praying for a quick return.

Following the line of his look, the demoness abruptly left, brushing past the grass at an incredible speed. The okami-taiyoukai hadn't smelled the stench of the filthy demon that had attacked them, but the area was swamped by the scent of human blood, and she was aware that the smell of fresh blood covered everything. She hadn't even been able to get a real idea of the toad-imp's stink.

When she realized she was heading to the clearing where they had been attacked, the clearing where Haku had howled to call her just before she had lost visual trace of the white blur, she understood that she had been lured away for the enemy to attack her pack members while they were left unprotected. Her red irises, rimmed with black began to glow menacingly.

A trap.

Everything had been a trap.

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So here it is. I do hope you enjoyed it and I will probably write down the next chapter shortly.

As english isn't my mothertongue, please, be nice: if you spot a mistake, warn me about it in a review and I'll make any correction necessary

Claywind


	2. Trap

**Title:** I, Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands

**Genre:** Action/Romance

**Disclaimer:** InuYasha characters, universe and story belong to Rumiko Takahashi and we're all grateful that she created them, because otherwise, we couldn't have so much fun borrowing them.

Arashirai, Haku and Kanako are my original creations. Please, don't steal them. If you want to use them in a fic, I would like you to ask me first. Or I'll send you hell. Thanks.

**Rating:** T, for violence and minor adult themes

**Warnings:** Some blood and severe injuries.

Chapter 2. Trap

Rin was scared. Her arm hurt very much, tears were running down her cheeks, branches and bushes were scratching her face, leaving red lines on her skin, but she was too terrified to even notice them. Her firm conviction that Sesshomaru-sama would eventually save her was silenced by her fear. _Wolves, run, scared, hurt_. The stabbing pain throbbing in her shoulder prevailed over everything and the belief that she might just die again today was insidiously creeping to her heart and cracking apart her faith.

The clasp of jaws strong enough to crush her bones like butter loosened and she abruptly made the hard ground's acquaintance. She rolled, taken by her momentum, and stopped next to a huge white paw. Silently praying for her dog-demon lord, she lifted her gaze... to meet the yellow irises of the giant wolf that had abducted her. She cowered in fear at the sight of the blood stained muzzle and looked around her for help. She had the time to catch a brief glimpse of a giant white form disappearing through the trees, very similar to the monster that was going to eat her, and then darkness took over.

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Sesshomaru was livid. A wolf – a pathetic worthless scum of wolf – had dared to take him by surprise. He didn't know what was the most insufferable; that the scum of the canine had had the insolence to think he could attack him and touch what belonged to him... or that he had dared succeed.

The inu-taiyoukai briefly wondered if it was really a wolf. He hadn't smelled the usual stench but everything had happened so fast... And now the scent of Rin's blood covered what he could have possibly smelled of her snatcher. A low growl rumbled in his chest. The wolf was going to die. Painfully.

When he crossed the edge of the forest and entered the woods, the scent of another blood suddenly reached him. Human blood. And an okami-youkai's stench which smelt somehow familiar. Could it be...? His thoughts didn't venture further as he was drawn back to the present in the most shocking way possible.

Rin was lying between the front paws of the white wolf demon that had attacked them. The scent of her blood, covering her body as well as the beast's muzzle, was the trigger his searing rage didn't need to explode. His eyes bled scarlet, a feral snarl escaped his throat, his claws glowed acid and he flung himself at the wolf.

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Haku was worried. Even though he had thoroughly licked the wound, Kanako hadn't woken up. She should have woken up. She _should_.

The sudden entrance of a second himself in the clearing brought him back to the present. The other wolf looked exactly like him, down to the golden eyes rimmed with black and even to the silver ring embedded in his left ear. Haku registered those detail in an instant as the other wolf dropped a small bundle of flesh wrapped in a once orange _yukata_. The blood stained thing rolled to his feet as its abductor disappeared between the trees.

The creature – it was a human child – lifted her gaze to him and curled up, her eyes looking around as in search for help. Haku didn't need his sense of smell – currently blinded by the strong scent of blood – to guess she was terrified. The little girl fainted and it could not be a good sign. He looked more closely at the wound and began to pull lightly on the fabric to clear himself a way for his tongue.

Once again in less than one hour, Haku readied himself to summon the power his white fur indicated he had been granted with. Sparkles of his silver-white energy lightened the edge of his hair as his aura coiled within him. He licked the wound and let the healing waves pour into the injured child. The injured flesh began to regenerate and soon, the dire evidences of skin torn-apart were nothing but a memory.

The trees marking the border of the clearing exploded.

A tall, silver-haired demon, with claws that glowed of a poisonous green made his way across the dismembered trunks. A growl of pure fury issued from him, so powerful that the wolf could feel the ground slightly shaking. Two intense turquoise pupils, drown in scarlet abysses, shrinked to dots when they fixed upon the child between his front paws and Haku realized four things:

He was facing the Lord of the Western Lands.

The said Lord seemed not very pleased to see his bloodied muzzle so close to the unconscious child.

He would not bring the taiyoukai back to reason.

He was pretty much going to die.

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Arashirai was angry. She had let herself be fooled by a devious trick, had run after a bait and let her pack unguarded. If they were wounded, it would be her entire fault and she hated that. Her role as their alpha was to protect them and she had failed.

Her sensitives ears detected the angry growls and plaintive whines long before she had reached the clearing. The echoes of the battle that was taking place informed her that her brother was still alive, which was a good thing, but also that he was losing ground... and that was already more worrying. Without being the most tremendous of a fighter, Haku was fast enough to match all sorts of possible youkai.

If he was losing then the opponent had to be exceptionally strong.

The wolf demoness eventually reached the clearing and found here two bodies covered in blood. Haku's aura was still lingering in the glade, informing her that he had summoned the powers of healing. She stopped for a very short amount of time at Kanako's side to verify her life state and was reassured to hear the youth's heartbeat, proof of her brother's succeed. The other one, a youngest girl, had also benefited from the white wolf's compassionate nature and was breathing steadily. Her quick inspections made, she sprang up to her feet and let the crashing noises of the battle lead her way.

Someone had dared touch her pack.

Someone was going to die.

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The wolf was fast. Insanely fast. He had dodged each blast of _youki_ that Sesshomaru had tried to reach him with, and that with an intolerable ease. The trees, however, weren't so fortunate and were lying crumbled all around the two opponents. As soon as he had realized that the powerful blows were too slow in their implementation, the inu-taiyoukai had abandoned his intentions to blast his opponent with Tokijin's explosive, yet useless, strength. His energy whip and his claws were good enough for that scum of the canine. Though less destructive, his elementary weapons allowed him greater freedom of movement as well as increased speed of reaction if handled properly, and the dog demon could certainly not be considered a novice in the art of combat. Lost in his primitive urge for blood he couldn't repress a feral snarl when his claws traced a red path across the shoulder of the worthless wolf instead of cutting his throat like it should have. The scum's pathetic attempts to evade his ire were slowly turning it into a raging wrath. The crimson droplets raining from the wolf's red-soaked fur testified the failure of some of those attempts.

The wolf was fast but Sesshomaru was faster.

Just a little longer and he could revel in his blood. Increasing the tempo of his attacks, the beast within him gloated in anticipation when it noticed that the wolf was slowing down. He saw an opening and struck. The wolf whined, stumbled over his wounded leg and limped clumsily out of range, obviously aware that he had just lost the battle. Sesshomaru readied himself to deliver the killing blow.

An incredibly powerful surge of _youki_ – almost equivalent to his own – stopped him in his motion and he instantly turned to face his new opponent. Black hair, wolf ears, scarlet eyes rimmed with darkness, two black tails swirling angrily around her, claws that gleamed of a fiendish purple energy. An okami-taiyoukai.

Inside him, the beast roared its disgust and Sesshomaru snarled savagely but his opponent paid no heed to his warning.

"Why did you attack my pack?" The voice was icy and unforgiving.

He growled at the outrage. He was the one that had been attacked! The wolf's death was his due! But then, there was this little murmur lost within the searing fury, this frail whisper that insisted the red eyed demoness and the white wolf were no strangers. However, the blinding rage that consumed him silenced the flimsy murmuring.

"Sister!" the wolf barked "He's enraged! He will not listen! He doesn't even recognise us."

As the beast rejected the words, denying them the right to exist, the whisper became a voice, trying to tame the burning wrath raging within him; a wrath which demanded that he lost himself in slaughter.

"I shall reckon with it." the demoness coldly asserted, walking slowly around him, never averting her eyes from him, and placed herself between him and his prey, in an act of obvious defiance. The bestial wildness within him growled in loathe at the offence, commanding that he spilled the disrespectful fool's blood.

She unsheathed her sword and the ivory blade glowed smoothly under the sunlight. His rage began to recede, and a part of his battlefield mind coldly appreciated the opponent he was given. Finding it worthy of his steel, the inu-taiyoukai drew his own sword and Tokijin's maleficent aura fuelled his hatred again.

"Sesshomaru" she called and her cold voice seemed again somehow familiar "You, who I once called friend. Why do you raise your blade against me?"

The little thrumming voice in his mind became more insistent. He had to calm down. He was the Lord of the West. He had to control himself. At the cost of an immense effort of willpower, he repelled the wild crimson beast and locked it again in its prison of ice. Forcing himself to loosen his grip on his sword, he sheathed Tokijin's, ignoring its disappointed hiss. He was his own master.

"Arashirai" he coldly stated.

She imperceptibly nodded, acknowledging his reserved salute.

"Sesshomaru. Why did you attack us?"

The question was misplaced; given that the wolf she was protecting had attacked and hurt Rin. He glared at the white okami-youkai that was currently licking his wounds, staring at him with a wary look. Sesshomaru restrained an angry open snarl but he saw in the slight shifting of the demoness' stance that she had heard the low growl anyway. He took into notice that she hadn't lowered her blade and that her posture was still readied for battle. Did she truly believe he had no control over himself? Though usually uncaring of lowly youkai's opinions towards his person, the she-wolf was not part of them and the idea that she might consider him that weak was displeasing. He was not a mindless beast. In his iciest voice, he asserted:

"Those who are fool enough to lash out at what is under my protection meet their death."

A short look of confusion quickly glimpsed in red irises.

"Neither me nor my brother did lay into what you could be protecting." she answered evenly. But as she spoke again he could hear the interrogation underlying in her tone: "It is you who attempted the first strike."

She was obviously telling the truth. They both were tremendously powerful taiyoukai who didn't feel the need to embarrass themselves with puerile concerns such as other's point of view. They were too proud to debase themselves to lie. On that specific point, he and she were alike.

"This Sesshomaru has no interest in attacking what is entrusted to your care. I do not harm if not provoked."

"Are you maintaining that you did not hurt Kanako?"

Who was it that the she-wolf was speaking of, he did not know. What he knew, however, was that only the white wolf had been the target of his retaliation.

"I did not." was his reply.

The demoness stared at him for a little time before eventually releasing a light sigh and sheathing her sword.

"Then someone attempted here to make us collide" she declared calmly.

He had come to the same realization and drawn to the evident close:

"The manipulator goes by the name Naraku."

"Your enemy?"

He nodded. A sharp look in her direction was all he needed to understand that he had gained an unnecessary ally. Her cold determined answer confirmed his conclusion:

"Henceforth he is mine as well."

It occurred to Sesshomaru that the vile hanyou had made a terribly wrong move in incurring the wrath of Arashirai. The wolf demoness was one of the very rare creatures strong enough that he would actually be bothered to have her as an enemy.

She placed a considerable value on revenge and, on this, he agreed mostly with her.

"Thence one of our blades shall bathe in his blood."

"Well may it be so."

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Well, that's done. It took me a while to figure out that conversation. I pretty much designed Arashirai to speak with the same attitude as Lord Fluffy and trying to get two blocks of ice chatting proved to be a challenge.

Again, the next chapter will come within a week

On this pleasant note, I wish you all a good night

Claywind


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